| The 80s by Anthony Rain Starez |
| I often look back to the
1980s to compare things in my life of present. You see, the 80s were a special time for
me. I got hurt in my car wreck right at the beginning of the decade at age 21, and so
things were kind of magnified, if you will. I remember Mt St Helens blowing up that year
as I watched from my hospital bed, which became my home for six months before moving to a
rehab center. Later that year, I remember sitting quietly by my radio in the rehab center
listening to the devastating news of the assassination of John Lennon.
Remarkably, I found girlfriends and my way back to school, or junior college, which both provided ample motivation for me to find more independence and goals. Whatever sympathy I held for myself I kept private, as it works as poison in relationships and any goals you have, and I had one major goal in the early 80s, and that was to drive again. Somehow I met a quad that was very active and drove his own van, so consequently the fire was set. Eventually I did get a loan from a bank to customize my van, and driving again was a 80s milestone that’s hard to beat. It meant some of my freedom was returned to me in 1985, and I’d just drive around neighborhoods listening to Van Halen blare from my stereo. By that time I had been through 3 or 4 girlfriends. Don’t ask me why it was so many, except I think I was immature in relationships. However, those girls meant so much to me and my growth in my new body, and my mind had to adjust quickly. Not only did it help my self-esteem to have a good -looking smart girlfriend, but also it taught me there were more important virtues of being in a relationship than being on my feet. So, for me the 80s were a learning decade in all respects. Marking every significant step through the 80s was the most powerful soundtrack any guy could ask for. The songs, bands, concerts, new wave, punk, hair-rock, glam bands, local rock clubs and rock radio were enough to distract me from myself. I grew my hair long, wore earrings, started writing freelance for music magazines and indulging in my own experimenting with music, including singing and multi-track recording with a keyboard. Anyway, as you can see the 80s had an extreme impact on me, and even though I miss those days, I wouldn’t want to return, like, Marty in the 80s classic movie Back to the Future. No, those years of proving things to myself, finding my direction are over. The glory of those years was also filled with growing pains, and so I will remember them fondly, but that’s all.
|
Well, that was only the beginning of, what I
think was, an amazing decade of social change, cable/MTV, pop cultural explosion and, of
course, my complete starting over with my life due to injuring my Spinal Cord five
vertebras down from my skull, paralyzing me from a high chest level down. The first years
of the 80s were filled with learning a new me, or finding a direction to go, not unlike a
person lost in the woods with no sense of where he/she is.